Wanted: Gallon Milk Jugs

Just thought I’d throw this out there on behalf of my mom (to whom I owe a million favors)…

My parents own and operate Oven and Earth Farm and have been vending at Corvallis-area farmers’ markets for 28 years. Every spring, my mom starts a ton of basil seedlings and sells them at the Corvallis Saturday Farmers’ Market. She began selling starts in repurposed milk jug pots many years ago because making her own pots was cheaper than buying them, and when my brother and I were kids, we drank a lot of milk. She simply cuts off the top half of the jug, drills some holes in the bottom for drainage, and then they’re perfectly functional for holding seedlings. She kind of built up a reputation as “that lady that sells basil starts in milk jug pots” (in addition to her reputation as “that lady who yells at all her customers”). In recent years, she’s been selling a lot more basil plants and going through a lot less milk, so she collects milk jugs where and from whom she can.

If any of you fine local folks (Corvallis/Philomath area) have a stash of gallon milk jugs that are destined for recycling, or you want to start saving them, please consider donating them to my mom, Nancy, so she can repurpose them into basil planters. Contact her directly via email: bencamille [at] proaxis [dot] com (My brother’s name is Ben. This is the email we picked for the household back when the internet was brand new.)

And, for any of you fine local folks that want to buy basil starts this spring and summer, look for the milk jug pots at the farmers’ market in a couple months. You won’t be disappointed.